The department has 10 firefighter paramedics on staff but prior to the program launch the employees were not allowed to perform ALS care. Instead they could only provide basic life support and had to wait for an ambulance and a paramedic to arrive.

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"Our hands were essentially tied to basic life support things, to taking good vital signs, and comforting you know with our words and ice packs," said firefighter and paramedic Silas Fischer.

Monterey fire is usually the first on scene and the new paramedic program will cut down on wait time for patients.

Paramedics are able to administer mediciations and intravenous therapy and minutes can matter.

Fischer said the wait for an ambulance is usually a few minutes but on busy days it can be up to 20 minutes if a unit has to come from Salinas. American Medical Response is contracted by the county to provide ambulance service and each unit has a paramedic.

AMR covers all of Monterey County but Monterey Fire has higher staffing levels and is more localized giving them the advantage when it comes to arriving on scene first.

Monterey Fire has been working to add paramedic service for a couple of years and in October it launched the new program.

"Through the application process we've had to prove that we have all the proper equipment, the proper training, we've spent hundreds and hundreds of hours training not only the paramedics, to refresh their skills, but also all of the EMTs to be able to better assist the paramedics," Fischer said.

The biggest cost of the program was the equipment. Getting the heart machine and medical supplies was about $35,000.

The funding comes from Measure A a tax passed in 2000 to replace a County Service Agreement tax passed in 1998. The tax is specifically to fund paramedic service in the county.

The city of Monterey receives over $40,000 a year out of that tax so it's enough to maintain those services, and that tax was originally passed with the intention of ensuring that paramedic services are provided throughout monterey county," said Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer.

Currently only one engine is equipped with paramedic gear and it is based a Station 11 on Pacific Street in Monterey. In the future the departmen hopes to expand the program.